Funeral message for Kevin Allen

Giants of the Faith

Some of you will be familiar with Hebrews 11, a great chapter which can almost act as a sort of honour roll for great Biblical characters of the faith. Every now and then, you meet someone and you almost feel as though they wouldn’t be out of place on that list. Kevin might have bristled at me saying such a thing - but I feel Kevin is such a person.

When I came to this church around nine years ago, Kevin had only fairly recently passed on the role of secretary, but he was still a leader with a strong presence in the church. Yet, while saying that, there was a humility about him. He was someone who if he wanted, could have thrown his weight around, and people would have fallen in line. Yet there was a quietness about him. He would listen, and act in a considered way.

I really appreciated this. When I first came to this church, I was a fresh to pastoring. I had just left engineering, and was entering the world of church politics, which for those who are involved in churches, is not always pretty. But yet, with people like Kevin around, I actually didn’t need to put up with much of the messiness you see.

Kevin set a tone, and it made a difference for those around him.

So how did Kevin get like this?

Now, I do suspect, to some degree, you could argue that this was just part of the personality that he was born with - perhaps… But I suspect there is more to the story then just that.

You see, Kevin was a man of faith - and that faith, when it takes hold of a person, it starts to change them. The ways in which you’re changed… well… there’s a lot of different aspects to that.

But one such way - is a peace that comes over you. I’m not just talking of a peace where suddenly everything suddenly goes right. Actually, this peace is quite different, because it’s a peace that says that no matter how hard things are going to get, you know that things are going to work out.

When this peace starts to develop, you can gain the attitude Kevin had - one where you don’t need to big note yourself… you don’t need to prove who’s boss… rather you can remain cool, calm and considered, because you understand what’s really going on.

Psalm 91

Now, earlier, we had Psalm 91 read for us. I understand this was his favourite Psalm. When I visit people in hospital, I’ll usually take my bible with me, and I’ll sometimes ask the person I’m visiting if they want to request a Psalm for me to read. Well, I seem to recall that on more than one occasion, I’ve read Psalm 91 with Kevin.

I don’t think I ever asked Kevin why he liked this Psalm so much - but as I reflect on it, I can have a pretty good guess. You see, the main idea of the Psalm is that even when everything seems to be going wrong, there is a God that will always save you, and for this reason, you can rest secure in him.

I believe Kevin had learnt to live this. He knew the world was not a good place.

But yet, as the first verse of this Psalm says: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”.

Kevin knew what it meant to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and so he knew the rest that comes with it.

Kevin could then join with the Psalmist in verse 2 when he says: “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust”.

Now, anyone can say those words, but when you mean it, it will change you.

One way to mean it, is to actually go through the difficult times and see for yourself a God that always comes through. And I believe Kevin did just that.

Now, if we were to continue going through this Psalm, we would see the Psalmist using the image of a fowlers snare to indicate danger, or picturing terrors or pestilence.

The specifics of what we might go through, or for that matter, the specifics of what Kevin went through - they might be different, but the idea is still the same.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge” then you’re making the Most High your dwelling and no harm will overtake you. You might object and say, well actually, harm does come. and yes, hardships will come, but when you’re dwelling with the Most High, this hardship we face, takes on a completely new dimension.

Love God

So what do you need to do for this to be your experience.

Well the Psalm basically tells us. Verse 14 looks at it from God’s perspective.

God doesn’t look at us and think… ‘well, that person is super amazing, so I better bless him...’, rather it tells us that when God looks at someone, he simply says, “because he loves me, I will rescue him”.

In other words, we just need to love God.

And in some ways, the beauty of Christianity is it’s simplicity. He just wants us to accept him.

Elsewhere in scripture it says: “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.

This is how we show our love for God. Accept that we need him and that he has paved the way for us to follow.

And when you do, you will experience that supernatural protection. Not a protection that nothing will go wrong, but a protection in that you won’t be harmed because you will always have the love of God with you.

In some ways, it might seem strange me talking about no harm coming to you when we’re at a funeral and death has actually come to the one whose faith we’re admiring.

But in some ways, it’s his death that really starts to make sense of what I’m saying. You see, though Kevin is now dead, he is actually more alive then ever. We might not get to talk with him in this age again - but when we get to heaven, we will see him again.

And so, what might seem the greatest harm - death - well… when you love God, this is by no means the greatest harm. Because to die is gain!

Conclusion

Now, I do strongly believe that Kevin is now in a better place, but this doesn’t take away the sadness of it all. Because in this age, we’ll never again have a conversation where Kevin is in the room with us. There is a loss, and grief comes with this loss.

We need to work through this grief, but yet, even in the midst of this grief, we can know rest. The type of rest this Psalm talks about, and the type of rest that dominated Kevin’s life.

Kevin would have wanted you to know this rest to. He wants you to be able to love God by confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart.

This changed Kevin’s life. And it can change yours too.

Let me pray...